Mobile platform structure for fruit pickers

ABSTRACT

A self-propelled vehicle for travel between two rows of fruit trees has platforms for pickers at different levels that are extendable in opposite directions into the two rows of trees. Picked fruit is conveyed from the various platforms to successive field bins at a bin-filling station on the vehicle and a lift fork on the vehicle picks up empty bins as needed.

United States Patent Ross: John M. et a1.

[ 1 Sept. 12, 1972 [541 MOBILE PLATFORM STRUCTURE FOR FRUIT PICKERS [72]Inventors: John M. Ross, Upland; Ronald T.

Smith, Ontario, both of Calif.

[73] Assignee: Sunkist Growers, Inc., Los Angeles, Calif.

22 Filed: April 27, 1970 21 Ap'pl.No.: 31,924

[52] U.S. Cl ..53/39l, 182/129 [51] Int. Cl. ..B65b 67/02, B60p 1/50,A01 g 19/04 [58] Field of Search ....53/59, 248, 390, 391; 182/12,182/13, 62.5,129, 63,124,130-132,141,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,450,152 9/1948 Miller..214/83.l

3,305,113 2/1967 Gardner ..214/83.l 3,493,132 2/1970 Merrill ..2l4/83.13,523,404 8/1970 Girardi ..53/39l 3,529,696 9/1970 Jacobsen 1 82/1293,537,236 11/1970 Fridley ..53/391 3,437,174 4/1969 Coblentz et al182/129 X Primary ExaminerRobert L. Spruill Attorney-Paul A. WeiIein[57] ABSTRACT A self-propelled vehicle for travel between two rows offruit trees has platforms for pickers at different levels that areextendable in opposite directions into the two rows of trees. Pickedfruit is conveyed from the various platforms to successive field bins ata binfilling station on the vehicle and a lift fork on the vehicle picksup empty bins as needed.

18 Claims, 32 Drawing Figures SHEET 01 HF 13 PATENTED SEP 12 I972 y m wm W QN sm mm. o m 5 V I QV Rm H @m mam A A. m {Mp w Wm N WV-- QM M 0 Msw ww as M Q {m M w E I swm um m NQ mam Kg w \w mm KW wT m PATENTEDSEP 121912 SHEET D30F 13 INVENTORS. JOHN M Z055 Em/Aw 7T SM/TH A TTOKWVKEV 624a Ce/aZa- PAYENTEUSEP 12 m2 SHEET 05 [1F 13 INVENTORS. Jaf/A/ MwzassBOA/A40 ISM/777' a waz M F wh I I I I I I I LII IIIL PATENTED SEP 12 m2SHEET 06 0F 13 INVENTORS. JfiH/v M. 205s EdN/ILD 7' SM/ PATENTEDSEP 12m2 SHEET U70F 13 INVENTOR$- Q wages JOHN M. @055 Y ZOA/ALD 7." 5/14/PATENTEDSEP 12 m2 3.690.092 sum 08 0F 13 INVENTORS. JOHN M. 6055 YEON/MD 75/14/77) B @u/QMW A TTOE/Vy MOBILE PLATFORM STRUCTURE FOR FRUITPICKERS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Fruit picked from trees in anorchard must be delivered to field bins or boxes on the ground which aretaken to a central pickup station for subsequent transportation from theorchard. Because it is time-consuming and expensive to use crews ofpickers that carry sacks and use individual ladders, variouslabor-saving mobile platform structures have been developed tofacilitate the picking of fruit from trees. There is still need,however, to eliminate manual effort and timeconsuming motion bothinpicking the fruit from the trees and in delivering the fruit to thefield bins. Ideally, such a labor-saving platform structure should becapable of use between two rows of trees for harvesting fruit from thetwo rows simultaneously with power means on the platform structure topick up empty field bins and to deposit full field bins en route. Thepresent invention is directed to this ideal.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A self-propelled vehicle has three platformassemblies at three different levels, each assembly comprising twoplatforms that are variably extendable in their planes in one lateraldirection from the vehicle and two platforms that are variablyextendable in the same manner in the opposite lateral direction. Eachplatform has a hopper at its leading end to receive picked fruit and aconveyor system is effective at all positions of extension of theplatform to, transport fruit from the hopper to successive field bins ata bin-filling station on the vehicle.

The conveyor system includes a gravity conveyor which receives thepicked fruit at different levels and permits the fruit to falltherethrough by increments of fall that are too small to damage thefruit. The successive empty field bins are positioned at the bin-fillingstation under the gravity conveyor and the gravity conveyor is capableof downward extension into the empty bins and upward retraction to clearthe full bins.

A lift fork incorporated into the front end of the vehicle picks upempty or partially filled bins in the path of the vehicle and binconveyor means moves the empty bins to the bin-filling station andsubsequently moves the full bins from the bin-filling station to a rampmeans on the rear end of the vehicle where the full bins are lowered tothe ground.

A suitable internal combustion power plant on the vehicle provideshydraulic power for a number of different purposes, including: actuationof portions of the fruit conveyor system; actuation of the lift fork;actuation of the bin conveyor means; extension and retraction of theindividual platforms; actuation of the BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSFIG. 1 is a side elevation of a vehicle incorporating the initialembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 1A is a diagram of the hydraulic power plant on the vehicle;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged plan view of the highest platform assembly as seenalong the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the highest levelplatform assembly as seen along the line 3-3 ofFIG. 1; i

FIG. 4 is an elevationalview of .the structure below the highest levelplatform assembly showing the gravity conveyor that delivers fruit tothe field bins at the filling station on the vehicle;

FIG. 5 is an elevational view of the highest level platform assembly asseen along the line 5-5 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 3 showing a pair of the platforms ofthe highest level platform assembly extended in their oppositedirections laterally of the vehicle;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the highest level platform assembly takenalong the line 7-7 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a horizontal section along the line 8-8 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a horizontal section along the line 9-9 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is an elevational view of the hoppers of a pair of platforms ofthe highest level platform assembly as seen along the line 10-10 of FIG.2;

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary plan view of one of the hoppers as seen alongthe line 11-11 of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a sectional view of the same hopper taken along the line12-12 of FIG. 10;

FIG. 13 is a fragmentary sectional view of portions of the highest levelplatform assembly taken along the line 13-13 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 14 is a fragmentary plan view, partly in section, as seen along theline 14- 14 of FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational view, partly in section,showing structure including the lift fork at the lower front end of thevehicle;

FIG. 16 is a sectional view taken along the line 16- 16 of FIG. 15showing an empty field bin on the lift fork;

FIG. 17 is a fragmentary elevational view similar to FIG. 15 showing thelift fork in elevated position;

FIG. 18 is a fragmentary plan view of a portion of the lift fork as seenalong the line 18-18 of FIG. 17;

FIG. 19 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 19-19 ofFIG. 18;

FIG. 20 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 20-20 ofFIG. 19;

FIG. 21 is a fragmentary section taken along the line 21-21 of FIG. 15showing the lift fork in plan view;

FIG. 22 is a section along the line 22-22 of FIG. 21 showing themechanism for pulling the empty field bins from the lift fork onto thebin conveyor means;

FIG. 23 is a fragmentary section taken along the line 23-23 of FIG. 22;

FIG. 24 is a view similar to FIG. 17 showing the lift fork both elevatedand tilted rearwardly;

FIG. 25 is a view as seen along the line 25-25 of FIG. 1, showing inplan the ramp for discharging filled field bins;

FIG. 26 is a sectional view of the ramp as seen along the line 26-26 ofFIG. 29;

FIG. 27 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 27-27 ofFIG.

FIG. 28 is a diagram of the hydraulic system for driving the groundwheels;

FIG. 29 is a diagram of the hydraulic system for power steering;

FIG. 30 is a diagram of the hydraulic system for extending andretracting the various platforms; and

FIG. 31 is a diagram of the hydraulic system for handling and conveyingthe field bins.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INITIAL EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION GENERALARRANGEMENT As shown in FIG. 1, the apparatus comprises a vehicle in theform of a framework mounted on a pair of forward ground wheels 30 and apair of rear ground wheels 32. The framework comprises various verticalframe members 34 and horizontal frame members 35 and incorporates anuppermost base structure generally designated 36 for an uppermostplatform assembly generally designated 38, an intermediate basestructure generally designated 40 at an intermediate level for anintermediate platform assembly, generally designated 42, and a lowermostforward base structure 44 for a lowermost forward platform assemblygenerally designated 45.

An upright gravity conveyor, generally designated 46, is constructed topermit picked fruit to gravitate downwardly therethrough without damageto fill field bins at a bin-filling station on the vehicle, thebin-filling station being represented by a field bin 48. A chutedelivers fruit from the uppermost platform assembly 38 to the top of thegravity conveyor 46; a second chute 52 delivers fruit from theintermediate platform assembly 42 to a lower level of the gravityconveyor; and a third chute 54 delivers fruit from the lowest platformassembly 45 to the same lower level of the gravity conveyor.

FIG. 1 further shows a lift fork 55 at the front end of the vehicle thathas picked up a field bin 56 from the ground in the path of forwardmovement of the vehicle. Two additional empty field bins 58 previouslypicked up by the lift fork 55 are on a forward bin conveyor 60 awaitingdelivery to a rear bin conveyor 62 on which the previously mentionedfield bin 48 rests at the binfilling station. The successive completelyfilled bins at the bin-filling station are delivered by the rear binconveyor 62 to discharge ramp means 64 at the rear end of the vehicle.

Various hydraulic pumps actuated by an internal combustion engine 66provides hydraulic power for various purposes including: extension andretraction of the platforms of the three platform assemblies; actuationof various conveyors for delivering picked fruit to the three chutes 50,52 and 54 that are associated with the gravity conveyor 46; downwardextension and retraction of the gravity conveyor 46; actuation of thebin conveyors 60 and 62; actuation of the lift fork 55; actuation ofbin-shifting means for shifting bins from the lift fork onto therearconveyor 60; actuation of the discharge ramp means 64; actuation of thetwo pairs of ground wheels to propel the vehicle; and power steering forthe two pairs of ground wheels.

CONSTRUCTION OF THE PLATFORM ASSEMBLIES Each of the three basestructures 36, 40, and 44 serves as a deck to support the correspondingplatform assembly. Since all three of the platform assemblies 38, 42,and 45 are identical, it will suffice to describethe construction of theuppermost platform assembly 38 on the uppermost base structure 36.

As best shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the base structure 36 has a lower deck68 and an upper deck 70, the upper deck being supported from the lowerdeck by a plurality of short posts 72. As shown in plan in FIG. 2, theplatform assembly 38 comprises a forward pair of oppositely extendableplatforms 74 and 75 and a rearward pair of oppositely extendableplatforms 74a and 75a, the two pairs being identical with the twoplatforms 75 and 75a diagonally opposite from each other and with thetwo platforms 74 and 74a diagonally opposite from each other.

As may be seen in FIG. 2, the two platforms 74 and 74a have relativelywide outer end floor portions, whereas the two platforms 75 and 75a arerelatively narrow with full length floor surfaces. It is also to benoted that the four platforms have their floor surfaces in substantiallythe same horizontal plane. FIGS. 2 and 3 show the four platforms attheir fully retracted positions and FIG. 6 shows the platforms extended.

Referring to FIGS. 5, 6, and 7, each of the two narrow platforms 75 and75a is mounted on rollers 76 for extension and retraction and therollers in turn are mounted on angle irons 78 on the upper deck of thebase structure. The two longitudinal sides of the two platforms and 75aare bent to form corresponding inwardly turned channels 80 that enclosethe rollers 76. When the two platforms 75 and 75a are fully retracted,they rest on the upper sides of the rollers 76, but when the platformsare fully extended, they fulcrum on the outermost pair of rollers andpress upwardly on the undersurfaces of the innermost rollers.

For extension and retraction of each of the narrower platforms 75, 750,each platform is connected to a corresponding piston rod 82 (FIG. 6) ofa corresponding hydraulic power cylinder 84, the rear end of which ismounted on the upper deck 70 by a bracket 85. Each hydraulic cylinder 84is controlled by a corresponding three-position foot pedal 86 whichoperates a corresponding four-way valve.

To make it possible for the outer end portions of the wider platforms 74and 74a to be on the same level as the narrower platforms 75 and 75a,the wider platforms are mounted by posts 87 on corresponding lowersupport portions 88 which constitute extensions of the wider platformsand are slidingly mounted on the lower deck 68 of the base structure 36.As shown in FIGS. 5, 6, and 7, the lower support portions 88 of thewider platforms 74 and 74a are mounted on rollers 90 which in turn aremounted on angle irons 92 on the lower deck 68. The lower supportportions 88 serve as auxiliary platforms and, in a manner heretoforedescribed, the lower support portions 88 are formed with inwardly turnedlongitudinal side channels 94 which enclose the rollers 90. Forpower-actuated extension and retraction of the wider platforms 74 and74a, each of the corresponding lower support portions 88 is connected toa corresponding piston rod 95 of a corresponding hydraulic cylinder 96,the rear end of which is mounted on the lower deck 68 by a bracket 98.Here again, each hydraulic cylinder 96 is controlled by a correspondingthree-position foot pedal 86 which operates a corresponding four-wayvalve.

Each of the lower support portions 88 is confined between pairs of thepreviously mentioned posts 72 and between an additional pair of forwardposts 100 (FIGS. 2, 3, and 6). As may be seen in FIG. 2, the lowersupport portions 88 of the wider platforms 74 and 740 can be retractedbetween the decks 68 and 70 and are largely masked by the narrowerplatforms 75 and 750 when all four of the platforms are retracted. Whenthe wider platforms 74 are extended, however, as shown in FIG. 6, theupper surfaces of the lower support portions 88 are exposed to serve asauxiliary platforms on which a fruit picker may walk or stand.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3, each of the wider platforms 74 and 74a ofthe three levels has a hopper 102 on its outer end to receive pickedfruit, the hopper being supported at the level of a fruit pickers waistby means of an upwardly extending frame 104. Each of the hoppers 102 isformed with a discharge spout 105 to deliver the fruit to a fruitconveyor system which will be described later. In like manner, each ofthe narrower platforms 75 and 75a is provided with a hopper 106 at itsouter end that has a discharge spout 108 and is supported waist-high bya frame 110.

Referring to FIGS. and 11, each of the hoppers 102 on the widerplatforms 74 and 74a may comprise a molded wall 112 of rigid plasticmaterial, for example, a molded piece of fiberglass which forms thefront and two sides of the hopper and which is attached by screws 1 14to a member 115 of the frame 104. Preferably, the plastic wall 112 isequipped with a soft rubber liner 1 16.

The inner side of the hopper 102, which side is nearest to a picker onthe platform, comprises a piece of flexible fabric 118, the lower edgeof which is bonded to the plastic wall 112 by means including a flexibleplastic strip 120. The upper portion of the fabric 118 is folded onitself to form a hem 122 which encloses a pair of elastic members 124which are connected at their opposite ends to the frame 104. Thus, theportion of the hopper 102 that is nearest to a picker on a platform 74or 740 is elastically yieldable so that if the picker leans against theinner side of the hopper the hopper will elastically conform to theconfiguration of the pickers body and make it a simple matter for thepicker to drop fruit into the hopper.

Each of the hoppers 106 on the narrow platforms 75 and 75a is of similarconstruction. Thus, each hopper 106 has a rubber lined plastic wall 125supported by a member 126 of the frame 110 and the hopper further has aninner wall of fabric 128 which is reinforced by concealed elasticmembers 130 (FIG. 3) which correspond to the elastic members 124 of thehoppers 102.

FRUIT CONVEYOR SYSTEM Referring to FIG. 3, each of the two hoppers 102of the platform assemblies on the three levels discharges into acorresponding downwardly inclined chute 132 which in turn dischargesinto a corresponding horizontal side conveyor 134 on the correspondingside of the platform assembly, there being two such side conveyors onthe forward and rearward sides respectively of each platform assembly.As shown in FIGS. 2 and 10, the bottom wall of each of the inclinedchutes 132 is provided with a pair of longitudinal ribs 135 which dividethe bottom of the chute into three longitudinal grooves or guideways forthe gravitating fruit. I

To minimize damage to the fruit as it is discharged from each hopper 102into the corresponding chute 132, the upper end of the chute isprovided'with an overhanging flexible baffle 136 to slow down themovement of the fruit. The bottom wall of the chute is cut away asindicated at 138 to form an opening for discharge of the fruit into thecorresponding side conve-yor 134, this discharge opening being flankedby a pair of flexible flaps 140. The lower end of the chute 132 isprovided with a bag 142 which is partially filled with water to act as ayielding buffer to decelerate the fruit without damage to the fruit.

The lower end of each inclined chute 132 is supported by a bracket 144that is slidable along the upper edges of the two side walls of thecorresponding side conveyor 134, and when the lower end of the inclinedchute is near the receiving end of the side conveyor as shown in FIGS. 3and 13, the fruit that is decelerated by the bag 142 drops onto aplastic foam cushion 145 which diverts the fruit onto the belt 146 ofthe side conveyor.

Each of the hoppers 106 at the outer end of each of the narrow platforms75 discharges into a corresponding inclined chute 148 which is of thesame general construction as the inclined chutes 132 and which ispositioned above the corresponding chute 132. The lower end of each ofthe chutes 148 is supported by a bracket 150 that is slidable along thetop edges of the two side walls of the corresponding lower inclinedchute 132. When the fruit gravitating down an upper chute 148 reachesthe bottom of the chute, it is deflected by a rubber apron 152 into thecorresponding lower chute 132.

FIG. 3 shows the positions of the inclined chutes 132 and 148 when thetwo corresponding platforms 74a and 75a are retracted and FIG. 6 showsthe positions of the inclined chutes when the two platforms areextended. It will be noted in FIG. 6 that when the platform 75a isextended to its limit, the weight of the lower end of the chute 148 istransferred from the chute 132 to an extension 110a of the frame 110. Itis apparent that the two chutes 132 and 148 accommodate themselves tothe extension and retraction of the platforms by virtue of the slidingconnection of the chute 148 with the chute 132 and the slidingconnection of the chute 132 with the corresponding side conveyor 134.

It is apparent that each pair of chutes l32and 148 comprises a chuteassembly that expands and contracts to follow the extension andretraction of the corresponding platforms. It is also apparent that thedischarge outlet of each chute assembly is movable along the length ofthe corresponding side conveyor 134 to accommodate the expansion andcontraction of the chute assembly.

The construction of each of the side conveyors 134 is best shown inFIGS. 13 and 14. The previously mentioned belt 146 passes around a driveroller 154 at the discharge end of the side conveyor and passes aroundan idler roller 155 at the receiving end of the side conveyor.Preferably, the belt 146 is provided with angular rubber cleats 156 toengage the fruit.

A hydraulic motor 158 drives a sprocket 160 which is connected to asecond sprocket 162 by a sprocket chain 164, the second sprocket 162being keyed to a drive shaft 165 that carries the drive roller 154. Thesecond end of the drive shaft 165 carries a friction wheel 166 whichperipherally engages a second friction wheel 168. The second frictionwheel 168 drives a transverse countershaft 170 that carries a series ofaxially spaced rubber rollers 172.

Fruit that reaches the discharge end of each of the side conveyors 134passes over the spaced rollers 172 to drop into a cross chute 174.Leaves, twigs, and other debris fall through the clearance space 175between the end of the belt 146 and the rollers 172. Adjacent each ofthe side conveyors 134, the cross chute 174 is provided with adownwardly curved rubber flap 176 and the opposite side wall of thecross chute is provided with a water-filled bag 178 that cushions thefruit.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 3, and 4, the cross chute 174 of the uppermostplatform assembly 38 has the previously mentioned discharge chute 50that empties into the upper end of the gravity conveyor 46. As shown inFIGS. 1 and 4, the cross chute 174 of the platform assembly 42 at theintermediate level has the previously mentioned discharge chute 52 thatenters the gravity conveyor 46 at a lower level.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 15, the two side conveyors 134 of the lowestlevel platform assembly 45 do not discharge into a cross chute, butinstead discharge into a powered conveyor 180. The powered conveyor 180is connected by a short gravity chute 182 with a second upwardlyinclined powered conveyor 184 which, as indicated in FIGS. 1 and 4, isprovided at its discharge end with the previously mentioned dischargechute 54 which directs the fruit into a lower level of the gravityconveyor 46. Each of the two conveyors 180 and 184 is of the samegeneral construction as the side conveyors 134, each having a belt 146provided with rubber cleats 156 and driven by a corresponding motor (notshown).

The gravity conveyor 46 which is shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 is an uprightbox-like structure that forms a vertical zone for gravitational movementof the fruit, the gravity conveyor having a plurality of barriers 185that are distributed horizontally and vertically across the gravity zoneto provide at spaced levels suitable openings through which the fruitmay drop. The barriers which are of soft and resilient construction arepositioned to repeatedly interrupt the free fall of the fruit to limitthe distance of each free fall to a fraction of the total verticaldistance through the gravity conveyor, the free falls being short enoughto keep the fruit from accelerating to such high velocity as to bedamaged by impact against the interrupting barriers.

Referring to FIG. 4, the gravity conveyor 46 is made in four sectionscomprising a top section 186, two intermediate sections 188 and 190, anda bottom section 192. The top section 186 is fixedly supported by anupright frame 194 that rests on transverse members 198 of the frameworkof the vehicle. The three upper sections 186, 188, and 190 are enclosedby a housing 214 that is open at its top and bottom and that hassuitable side openings to receive fruit from the discharge chutes 52 and54, and the bottom section 192 is movable upwardly from its normalposition shown in FIG. 4 into the interior of the housing.

The intermediate section 188 slidingly engages upright guides in theform of four slots 200 in the housing 214 and is movable upwardly fromits normal position shown in FIG. 4 towards the upper section 186. Atthe lower normal position of the intermediate section 188, it issupported by laterally extending guide lugs 202 thereof each of whichextends into a slot 200 and rests on a horizontal frame member 204 thatextends across the slot.

The second intermediate section 190 of the gravity conveyor is shown atits normal position in FIG. 4 where laterally extending tongues 205 ofthe section that extend into the guide slots200 rest on transverse framemembers 206 that extend across the slot. The intermediate section 190 ismovable upwardly from its normal lower position along the guide angles200 towards the intermediate section 188.

The bottom section 192 of the gravity conveyor'46 is supported bybrackets 208 on the lower ends of corresponding piston rods 210 whichextend downwardly from corresponding hydraulic cylinders 212, thehydraulic cylinders being mounted on opposite sides of the fixed frame194.

FIG. 4 shows the gravity conveyor 46 retractably extended downwardlyinto the previously mentioned field bin 48 at the bin-filling station ofthe apparatus. As the field bin gradually fills with fruit, the lowerend of the gravity conveyor 46 is progressively retracted upwardly andis eventually elevated sufficiently to clear the top of the field bin asthe field bin fills with fruit. The upward retraction of the gravityconveyor 46 is accomplished by the hydraulic cylinders 212, the bottomsection 192 being drawn upwardly by the brackets 208 moving along slotsin the side walls of the housing 214. First the bottom section 192 movesagainst the underside of the intermediate section 190 and lifts theintermediate section 190 against the next intermediate section 188 andthen the three lower sections move in unison towards the top fixedsection 186. The maximum distance of free fall of the fruit inside thegravity conveyor 46 is the distance between the sections when thesections are at their maximum spacing shown in FIG. 4, but this freefall distance is short enough to keep the fruit from being damaged byimpact against the soft barriers 185.

THE BIN HANDLING SYSTEM As shown in FIG. 4, the rear bin conveyor 62 atthe filling station comprises a pair of parallel closed loops ofsprocket chain 215 engaged by sprockets 216 that are actuated by a fluidmotor 218. The forward bin conveyor 60 is of similar construction havingtwo conveyor chains 215 on similar sprockets 216 driven by a secondfluid motor 220.

As heretofore stated, the function of the lift fork 55 is to pick upempty field bins from the ground in the path of travel of the vehicleand to deliver the empty bins to the forward conveyor 60 for conveyanceto the filling station on the rear conveyor 62.

Referring to FIGS. 15, 16, and 17, the lift fork 55 comprises twoforwardly extending fork members 222 that are fixedly mounted on aU-shaped frame 224 that has two opposite upwardly extending side arms225 each of which carries two vertically spaced guide rollers 226. Eachof the fork members 222 is a longitu- 'dinally tapered inverted channelmember having a series of upwardly protruding balls 228 that arerotatably mounted in bearing cups 230 (FIG. 19).

The two guide rollers 226 of each of the upwardly extending side arms225 of the lift fork frame 224 track in two corresponding tiltableguideways 232 in the form of channels. The two guideways 232 arepivotally mounted on corresponding upright plates 234 of a fixed frame235 and for this purpose each of the two guideways has a pivot stud 236(FIG. 16) which extends through a corresponding bore in thecorresponding fixed plate 234. The fixed frame 235 includes a pair offorwardly extending guard rails 238 on opposite sides of the lift forkwith the outer ends 240 of the guard rails bent outwardly as shown inFIG. 21 to guide boxes onto the lift fork.

For the purpose of raising and lowering the lift fork 55, two hydrauliccylinders 242 are mounted by their upper ends on pivots 244 at the upperends of the corresponding guideways 232 and each hydraulic cylinder hasa downwardly extending piston rod 245 which is pivotally connected to acorresponding bracket 246 on the corresponding side of the lift forkframe. With the lift fork in its lower position shown in FIGS. 1, 15,and 16, the two hydraulic cylinders 242 may be energized to elevate thelift fork to an upper position shown in FIG. 17.

The elevated lift fork may be tiled from the position shown in FIG. 17to the position shown in FIG. 24 by energizing a pair of hydrauliccylinders 248 positioned to one side of the lift fork. As shown in FIGS.21 and 24, the front ends of the hydraulic cylinders 248 are pivotallyconnected to the fixed frame 235 by pivots 250 and piston rods 252extending from the rear ends of the cylinders are connected by pivots254 to the upper end of the guideways 232 of the lift fork frame 224.FIG. 24 shows a piston rod extended to tilt the lift fork rearwardly.

The leading end of each of the fork members 222 of the lift fork isprovided with a rearwardly directed stop finger 255 which is one arm ofa lever 256 that is mounted on a pivot 258. The second forward arm ofthe lever 256 is connected to a coil spring 260 which urges the lever toa normal position shown in FIG. 19. When the two fork members 222 areadvanced under a field bin 56, the stop finger 255 is swung downwardlyout of the way by the field bin and when the fork member advancessufficiently to place the stop finger beyond the far end of the bin, thestop finger is returned by the spring 260 to its normal effectiveposition shown in FIG. 19. At this normal position the stop fingerblocks forward longitudinal movement of the bin off the fork member.

Associated with the lift fork 55 is an overhead binshifting means, thatis generally designated 262 in FIGS. 16, 21, and 22. On each of twosides of the vehicle a shoe 264 in the form of a heavy plate is slidablealong a horizontal fixed channel member 265 of the vehicle frame. Thetwo shoes are reciprocated by the piston rods 266 of two correspondinghydraulic cylinders 268 that are fixedly mounted in the two channelmembers respectively.

Two short angle irons 270 attached to the two shoes 264 respectively bycap screws 272 extend downwardly to support the opposite ends of atransverse angle iron 274. Mounted on the transverse angle iron 274 aretwo spaced coaxial rollers 275 which, as shown in FIG. 22, protrudeslightly rearwardly from the transverse angle iron.

When a field bin 56 is on the lift fork 55 with the lift fork at itslower position shown in FIGS. 15 and 16, the field bin is too low forengagement by the bin-shifting means 262. When the lift fork 55 iselevated, however, as shown in FIG. 17, the field bin 56 thereon is highenough for engagement of the forward endof the field bin by the rollers275 in the manner shown in broken lines in FIG. 22. Thus, when the liftfork 55 is elevated, the two hydraulic cylinders 268 may be energized toretract the piston rods 266 and thereby draw the binshifting means 262rearwardly to force a field bin on the lift fork rearwardly onto theforward bin conveyor 60. The hydraulic cylinders 248 may be energized totilt the elevated lift fork 55 rearwardly as shown in FIG. 24 to causethe field bin to be urged rearwardly off the lift fork by gravity aswell as by the bin-shifting means 262.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 25-27, the discharge ramp means 64 comprisestwo spaced ramps 400 equipped with rollers 402, the two rampscooperating to receive successive filled field bins 48 from the rear binconveyor 62. Each of the two ramps 400 is movable from a normal elevatedposition shown in full lines in FIG. 26 to a ground level position shownin dotted lines. Each of the two ramps 400 is guided along an arcuatepath by pairs of links 404 and 406, there being one pair of the links oneach side of each ramp. The two links 404, 406 of each pair are pivotedboth to the ramp and to the frame of the vehicle and the two links ofeach pair are slightly out of parallel to cause the ramp to change froma slightly downwardly inclined attitude at its upper position to asomewhat greater downward inclination at its ground position.

The elevation of the two ramps 400 is controlled by the piston rods 408of two hydraulic cylinders 410 and for this purpose the piston rods areconnected to a cross beam 412 to which the two ramps are fixedlyattached. Since the discharge ramp means is directly under the driversseat 276, the driver is completely aware of the movement of the filledfield bins from the rear bin conveyor 62 onto the two ramps 400.

When the filled bin 413 shown in FIGS. 25 and 26 is delivered to thepair of ramps 400 by the rear bin conveyor 62, the filled bin gravitatesalong the rollers 402 to two stops 414 that are mounted on the two rampsrespectively at their outer ends. Each stop 414 is mounted on a pivot415 to rotate from an upper effective position shown in full lines inFIG. 26 and a lower release position shown in dotted lines.

For automatic control of the two stops 414, each is connected by a pivot416 to a long link 418 which in turn is connected by a pivot 420 to ashort link 422 that is mounted on the side of the ramp by a pivot 424. Alink .425 is connected at one end to the pivot 420 and at its second endis connected by a pivot 426 to the frame of the vehicle. The last link425 is so located and so inclined as to cause rotation of the stop 414from its stop position to its release position in response to loweringof the corresponding ramp 400.

When the driver causes the discharge ramp means 64 to lower fordischarge of a filled bin 413, the rear ends of the two ramps 400 touchthe ground and the filled bin rolls rearwardly until its leading endtouches the ground. As the vehicle subsequently moves forward the tworamps 400 are dragged out from under the filled bin 428 to leave thefilled bin behind.

MEANS FOR PROPELLING AND STEERING THE APPARATUS The driver of thevehicle is provided with a seat 276 adjacent a control housing 278 thathas a steering wheel 280 for the front pair of gound wheels 30. Variousmanually operable controls are provided at the control housing 278including a hand lever 282 that may be swung laterally in oppositedirections to steer the rearward pair of gound wheels 32.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 4, and 15, each of the four ground wheels 30, 32 ismounted on the lower arm 284 of a corresponding upright column 285 thatis rotatably and slidably journalled in spaced bearings 286 on the frameof the vehicle. Heavy coil springs 288 in compression between collars290 on a shaft 285 and the upper bearings 286 yieldingly support thevehicle.

To propel the vehicle, each of the four ground wheels is connected by acorresponding sprocket chain 292 to an upper sprocket 294 on a motorshaft 295 carried by a bracket 296, the bracket being fixed to theupright column 285 in a radial position to keep the motor shaft parallelwith the lower arm 284. The motor shaft 295 is actuated by a hydraulicmotor 298.

Each of the upright columns 285 is controlled by a crank arm 300 on itsupper end, the two crank arms of each pair of ground wheels beingparallel nd being interconnected by a long link 302. As indicated inFIG. 18, the longlink 302 for controlling the front pair of groundwheels 30 is connected by a pivot 304 to a piston rod 305 of a hydrauliccylinder 306 and in like manner, as shown in FIG. 1, the link 302 thatconnects the crank arms 300 of the rear pair of ground wheels 32 iscontrolled by a hydraulic cylinder 308. The hydraulic cylinder 306 forthe forward pair of ground wheels is controlled by the steering wheel280 and the rear hydraulic cylinder for the rear pair of ground wheelsis controlled by the previously mentioned hand lever 282.

THE HYDRAULIC SYSTEM FOR ACTUATING AND CONTROLLING THE MOVABLE PARTSReferring to FIG. 1, the internal combustion engine 66 which has aradiator 310 has a drive shaft 312 journalled in spaced bearings 314,the drive shaft actuating a small hydraulic pump 342 for power steering.As shown diagrammatically in FIG. 1A, the drive shaft 312 is connectedby sheaves 315 and belts 316 to a first countershaft 318 that isjournalled in bearings 320. The first countershaft 318 is connected bysheaves 322 and belts 324 to a second countershaft 325 journalled inbearings 326. The opposite ends of the second countershaft 325 areconnected to hydraulic pumps 328 and 329 respectively which supply powerfor the front and rear pairs of wheels respectively. These two pumps mayhave a capacity, for example, of 15 gpm.

The first countershaft 318 is also connected by sheaves 330 and belts332 to a third countershaft 334 journalled in bearings 335. The thirdcountershaft 334 actuates four hydraulic pumps, namely: a relativelylarge hydraulic pump 336 which may have a capacity of 45 gpm forextending and retracting the various platforms of the three platformassemblies; a hydraulic pump 338 which may have a capacity of 8 gpm fordownwardly extending and retracting the gravity conveyor 46 and also forcontrolling the lift fork 55, the bin-shifting means 262, and thedischarge ramp means 64; and a hydraulic pump 340 which may have acapacity of 5 gpm for actuating the various fruit conveyors and binconveyors.

Turning now to the hydraulic system that is shown diagrammatically inFIG. 30, the high pressure line 344 from the large hydraulic pump 336has a branch to a relief valve 345 and is connected to a manuallyoperable valve 346 that may be used to bleed the high pressure linewhenever desired. The high pressure line 344 is connected to 12 four-wayvalves 348 which in turn are connected to the 12 hydraulic cylinders forextending and retracting the 12 platforms 74, 74a, 75, and 75a of thefour platform assemblies. For example, a four way valve 348 is shown inFIG. 30 as connected to a hydraulic cylinder 96 for extending andretracting a platform 74. The 12 four-way valves 348 are connected to acommon return line 350. Each of the 12 four-way valves 348 is operatedby one of the previously mentioned foot pedals 86 which controls theextension and retraction of the corresponding platform.

Referring to FIG. 28, hydraulic pump 328 for powering the forward pairof ground wheels 30 is connected to a four-way valve 352 which in turnis connected to the fluid motors 298 of the forward pair of groundwheels. In like manner, the hydraulic pump 329 is connected to afour-way valve 354 which in turn is connected to the fluid motors 298 ofthe rear pair of ground wheels 32. A three-position hand lever 355 onthe previously mentioned forward control housing 278 operates thefour-way valves 352 and 354 for reversable actuation of the two pairs ofground wheels 30, and another band lever 356 controls variable orifices357 in the hydraulic lines to control the speed at which the two pairsof ground wheels are driven.

Referring to FIG. 31, hydraulic pump 338 is connected to a valve panel358 on the forward control housing 278 wherein one manually operablefour-way valve (not shown) controls the hydraulic cylinders 212 forextending and retracting the gravity conveyor 46. A second four-wayvalve (not shown) on the valve panel 358 controls hydraulic cylinders248 for tilting the lift fork and a third four-way valve (not shown)controls the hydraulic cylinders 242 for raising and lowering the liftfork 55. A fourth four-way valve (not shown) on the valve panel 358controls the hydraulic cylinders 268 for extending and retracting thebin-shifting means 262. A fifth four-way valve controls the pair ofhydraulic cylinders 410 for lowering and raising the discharge rampmeans 64.

The high pressure line 360 from the pump 338 is connected through thevalve panel 358 to a line 362 for actuating the fluid motors 218 and 220of the two field bin conveyors 62 and 60, respectively. The highpressure line 364 from the hydraulic pump 340 is connected to reliefvalve 366 and is connected to the six

1. In a mobile apparatus to facilitate harvesting fruit from trees, thecombination of: a first platform at an elevated level to support aworkman for picking fruit, said platform being retractably extensible inits plane in one direction from the apparatus laterally thereof; asecond platform at about the same level retractably extensible from thevehicle in the opposite lateral direction; a first hopper on the outerend of the first platform to receive fruit; a second hopper on the outerend of the second platform to receive fruit; a fruit conveyor below thelevel of the two hoppers aligned with the direction of extension andretraction of the two platforms; chute means connected to the twohoppers respectively to deliver fruit therefrom to the fruit conveyor,said chute means being movable relative to the fruit conveyor toaccommodate extension and retraction of the corresponding platforms; andmeans cooperative with said conveyor to deposit the picked fruit insuccessive bins at a filling station on the apparatus, said chute meansincluding: a first chute connected to the first hopper and inclineddownwardly from the hopper to said fruit conveyor to convey picked fruitthereto, the lower end of the chute being movable along the conveyor toaccommodate shifting of the first hopper with extension and retractionof the fruit platform; and a second chute connected to the second hopperto convey picked fruit to the first chute and inclined downwardly to thefirst chute in the direction opposite from the downward inclination ofthe first chute, the lower end of the second chute being movable alongthe first chute to accommodate shifting of the second hopper withextension and retraction of the second platform.
 2. A combination as setforth in claim 1 which includes yielding means to decelerate fruitmoving from the hoppers to said conveyor.
 3. A combination as set forthin claim 2 in which said yielding means includes a flexible bag in thepath of the fruit, said bag containing a liquid.
 4. In a mobileapparatus to facilitate harvesting fruit from trees, the combination of:a plurality of decks at different levels; a first platform on each deckto support a workman for picking fruit, said platform being retractablyextensible in its plane in one direction from the apparatus laterallythereof; a second platform on each deck at about the same level as thefirst platform, said second platform being retractably extensible fromthe vehicle in the opposite lateral direction; a first hopper on eachdeck on the outer end of the first platform thereof to receive fruit; asecond hopper on each deck on the outer end of the second platformthereof to receive fruit; a fruit conveyor on each deck below the levelof the two hoppers thereof aligned with the direction of extension andretraction of the two platforms thereof; first and second chutes on eachdeck connected to the respective hoppers thereof to deliver fruit fromthe two hoppers to the fruit conveyor of the deck, said chutes beingmovable relative to the fruit conveyor to accommodate extension andretraction of the corresponding platforms; and means including gravityconveyor means to receive the fruit from the different conveyors of thedifferent decks and to discharge the fruit into successive bins at afilling station on the apparatus.
 5. A combination as set forth in claim4 in which said gravity conveyor means has a plurality of transverseresiliently yieldable barriers to absorb energy from the gravitatingfruit.
 6. A combination as set forth in claim 5 in which said gravityconveyor means has a support structure defining a zone for gravitationalmovement of the fruit downwardly therethrough; in which said barriersare distributed horizontally and vertically of the zone to provide atspaced levels a plurality of openings through which the fruit maygravitate, said barriers being yieldable to avoid damaging the fruit andbeing positioned to repeatedly interrupt free fall of the fruit to limitthe distance of free fall of the fruit through the zone.
 7. Acombination as set forth in claim 6 in which said filling station isdirectly under the gravity conveyor means to receive the fruittherefrom; which includes means to supply successive empty bins to thefilling station; and which includes means to move the successive filledbins from the filling station to the ground adjacent the apparatus. 8.In an apparatus of the character described to facilitate picking fruitfrom trees, the combination of: a vehicle having ground wheels; at leastone elevated base structure on the vehicle; a platform assembly on thebase structure; a first pair of platforms included in said platformassembly and movably mounted on the forward portion of the elevated basestructure and retractably extensible in opposite directions laterally ofthe vehicle along overlapping paths; a second pair of platforms includedin said platform assembly movably mounted on the rearward portion of theelevated base structure and retractably extensible in oppositedirections laterally of the vehicle along overlapping paths; a firstlaterally extending conveyor included in said platform assembly on theforward side of the elevated base structure; a second laterallyextending conveyor included in said platform assembly on the rearwardside of the elevated base structure; a first pair of hoppers included insaid platform assembly and mounted on the platforms respectively of saidfirst pair of platforms; a second pair of hoppers included in saidplatform assembly and mounted on the platforms respectively of saidsecond pair of platforms; chutes from the first pair of hoppers todeliver fruit to the first conveyor at all positions of the extensionand retraction of the first platforms; chutes from the second pair ofhoppers to deliver fruit to the second conveyor at all positions ofextension and retraction of the second pair of platforms; and means toconvey fruit from said conveyors to bins at a filling station on thevehicle.
 9. A combination as set forth in claim 8 which includes aplurality of base structures at different levels, each equipped with aplatform assembly; which includes gravity conveyor means positionedabove the filling station; and which includes means to convey pickedfruit from the various laterally extending conveyors to the gravityconveyor.
 10. A combination as set forth in claim 9 in which saidgravity conveyor means has resiliently yieldable barriers distributedhorizontally and vertically to repeatedly interrupt free fall of thefruit to limit the distance of free fall of the fruit to distances smallenough to keep to fruit from accelerating to such high velocity as tocause significant damage to the fruit by impact against the interruptingbarriers.
 11. In a mobile apparatus of the character described tofacilitate picking fruit from trees, the combination of: a plurality ofplatforms at different levels on the apparatus to support fruit-pickingpersonnel; hoppers to receive picked fruit at the different levels;conveyor means including moving conveyors to convey picked fruit fromthe hoppers to successive bins at a filling station on the vehicle;support structure near the front end of the vehicle forming downwardlyextending guideway means, said support structure being pivotally mountedon the vehicle to swing about a transverse axis; fork means to pick upempty receptacles in the path of the vehicle, said fork means movablyengaging said guideway means for up and down movement along the guidewaymeans; remotely controlled power means on said support structure inengagement with the fork means to raise and lower the fork means alongsaid guideway means; and remotely controlled power means on the vehiclein engagement with said support structure to rock the support structureabout its transverse axis thereby to tilt the fork means.
 12. Acombination as set forth in claim 11 in which said fork means has aplurality of members freely rotatable on fixed axes to minimizeresistance to movement of bins onto and off of the fork means.
 13. Acombination as set forth in claim 12 which includes stop means to engagethe successive bins to keep the successive bins from gravitating off thefork means when the fork means is tilted towards the ground.
 14. Acombination as set forth in claim 13 in which said stop means is pivotedto retract from its effective position and in which the stop means isbiased to its effective position.
 15. A combination as set forth inclaim 14 in which the stop means is shaped and dimensioned to be cammedto its retracted position by a bin moving onto the fork means.
 16. Acombination as set forth in claim 15 which includes a power-actuatedconveyor adjacent the rear end of the fork means to receive binstherefrom and to move the bins towards the filling station; and whichincludes power-actuated bin-shifting means to engage successive bins onthe fork means to shift the successive bins onto said power-actuatedconveyor, said engagement means being at an elevation to clear a bin onthe fork means when the fork means is lowered and to engage a bin on thefork means when the fork means is elevated.
 17. In an apparatus forharvesting fruit from trees, having in combination: a vehicle havingground wheels and having a plurality of base structures at differentlevels; at least one platform on each base structure to support aworkman for picking fruit, the platform being movable between aretracted position and a position extending laterally of the vehicle;power means operable to extend and retract the platforms; hoppers at therespective platforms to receive fruit picked from trees; means tosupport successive field bins at a filling station on the vehicle; meansto convey picked fruit from the hoppers to the filling station, saidconveying means including chute means connected to the respectivehoppers, said chute means being extensible and retractable to followextension and retraction of the corresponding platforms; and means toconvey the successive filled bins away from the filling station, saidmeans to convey the successive filled bins away from the filling stationincluding: ramp means on the trailing end of the vehicle; rotaryantifriction elements on the ramp means to facilitate movement of thefilled bins along the ramp means; power-actuated conveyor means to movesuccessive filled bins from the filling station to the ramp means;power-actuated means to raise and lower the ramp means between anelevated position to receive the filled bins from the filling stationand a lower position to deposit the filled bins on the ground; and stopmeans to keep the filled bins on the ramp means, said stop means beingreleasable to permit the filled bins to leave the ramp means when theramp means is lowered to its lower position.
 18. A combination as setforth in claim 17 which includes means to release the stop means inresponse to movement of the ramp means from its elevated position to itslower position.